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You might have to try hard
to suppress the laughter that will surely
begin to bubble over as you read the latest about 58 year old
Russian prime minister Vladimir
Putin.

Putin is allegedly trying to show off his physical prowess by
partaking in a strongman competition at a pro-Kremlin youth camp,
where he attempted to scale an alpinist climbing wall without
safety gear, partake in an arm-wrestling match with a fellow
nearly twice his size and bend a frying pan with his bare hands.

He was reportedly unsuccessful with the latter.

What’s more, the chino-clad Russian PM tried to sound tough too,
reportedly calling the U.S. a parasite on the global
economy.

"The 58-year-old Russian prime minister put in his latest
display of physical prowess at a Kremlin youth camp 230 miles
northwest of Moscow in front of thousands of patriotic
young Russians who are encouraged by
organisers each year to put the strongman politician on a
pedestal. Dressed in chinos and a light-coloured striped shirt,
Mr. Putin talked tough too, calling the United States a
parasite on the global economy.

But it was his physical feats that seemed to wow his young
audience more than anything.

Photographs of the event, which took place on Monday, showed Mr
Putin trying to crush a frying pan with his bare hands as young
admirers looked on. It is not clear whether he succeeded."

Another image of a man many Russians regard as the father of the
nation showed him shimmying up an artificial climbing wall
spiderman-style without a safety harness or helmet. Mr Putin
leapt off the wall before reaching the top, jokingly muttering
something about cowardice.

Other images showed he had adjudicated an arm wrestling contest
between two young men, taken part in a contest himself, and
looked on as a weight lifter balanced a barbell loaded with heavy
weight plates on his back.

But Putin’s attention-seeking antics might be an omen of what’s
in store for the PM, as many speculate he will contest a
presidential election next March. And if a campaign video released by the ruling
United Russia party this week called “We are building a new
Russia. V. Putin” is any indication, Putin may very well be
considering it. The campaign video, by the way, reportedly casts
Putin as the architect of a most awe-inspiring post-Soviet
renaissance.

But the Telegraph tell us more:

"He has also emerged as the key figure in a new political
movement called the All-Russian People’s Front whose stated aim
is to revitalise the flagging fortunes of the ruling party.
Young female supporters have done their bit for his publicity
campaign too with bikini-clad young girls organising a free
car wash in Moscow in his honour.

Meanwhile, an affiliated young female fan group, calling itself
“the Army of Putin,” has released a raunchy video challenging girls to rip off their
tops or lay into his critics in a show of support."

It is a story filled with narcissism and perhaps a
touch of the bizarre. Watch the video below: